Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Operation Organization: The Meal Planning, Clarifications

Well people, I am halfway through my first month of organization and I can tell you that is is WORKING! I dare say I am a complete convert. This past Saturday, rather than fighting traffic and waiting in the checkout line, I was discovering a new park (hiking trails, waterfalls, playgrounds, oh my!) with Greg and the kids.

I thought I would clarify a few things:

The blogger who created the worksheets I recommended uses the pantry inventory sheets a little differently than I do. I made a master list of all my pantry items, a master list of all my refrigerator and freezer items, one of our family's toiletries (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.), one of all the paper products we use, and one of cleaning products. I printed out inventory sheets and just changed the headings accordingly. I put them all in plastic sleeves in my cute little binder so they were in one place, and my plan is to review each list quickly each month before my big shopping trip to see what I need. I think what the blogger does is hang each sheet in a separate place: the pantry inventory, for example, is hung in the pantry, the fridge and freezer ones are clipped to the fridge, the toiletries one is in the bathroom, you get the picture. As she runs out of things, she notes it on the inventory. Makes perfect sense! I just like to have everything in one place and have my lists organized in such a way that I can run down them fairly quickly.

One of my friends emailed me another tip you might like to try - thanks Melissa!

Type out a list of all household supplies like detergents, toilet paper, cleaning supplies and pantry staples. Then slip it into a dry erase sleeve and post in a handy place with a dry erase pen. Every time you use the last of an item, mark it with a check or slash. When it is time to go to the store, refer to your list to know what you need to replace. Then clean the sleeve and repeat again. Hope it saves you a minute or two!

Next up: another throwback Thursday, and all the gory details of the monthly grocery trip.

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